Texas battle now has three site markers

When Troy Hughes told his wife they should move into their 18-acre cattle ranch, she insisted they place a cross there.

It turns out the 10-foot-tall white cross planted 12 years ago is some 25 feet from the site where they believe the sun-bleached bones of hundreds of rebels killed in the deadliest battle in Texas history are buried.

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“She has these feelings, sometimes,” Hughes said. “She just told me there has to be this cross.”

Three years ago, Robert P. Marshall, a retired petroleum geologist, told them the worst fighting in the four-hour Battle of Medina occurred on their land in 1813.

After reviewing Marshall's extensive research, Troy and Oralia Hughes agreed to let him place a nearly 1-ton pink granite marker on their property on Old Pleasanton Road, proclaiming it the site where Spanish Royalists crushed the first republic of Texas.

The marker is not recognized by the state. It is 2 miles east of a metal marker placed by the state in 2005 and several miles south of a granite state marker placed in 1936.

Debbi Head, spokeswoman with the Texas Historical Commission, said Marshall's claim is “well-intended” but not supported by artifacts that “positively date” to the Spanish colonial era.

Kay Hindes, city archaeologist in San Antonio, said she has not seen lead shot or other items that can be identified as period battle relics.

“I'm not saying he's wrong. He could do more work, like metal-detecting,” she said. “As far as I can tell, we now have three sites with three markers, all claiming to be the site of the battle!”

Marshall said he has found artifacts, including a corroded iron piece of a cavalry horse bridle bit, and calcified soil where he believes remains of the rebels were buried.

The calcified dirt is “probably the strongest archaeological evidence, in my opinion,” he said.

On a hot afternoon in 1813, up to 1,000 rebels fighting under the emerald flag of the Republican Army of the North were killed by the Spanish Royal Army, which included a young lieutenant, Antonio López de Santa Anna. He later became dictator of Mexico and led the 1836 assault on the Alamo.

After the 1813 battle, corpses of the dead rebels were left to rot until their skeletal remains were buried in 1822.

Dozens of sites have been theorized as that of the horrific battle. It was long assumed to be near the Medina River before researchers placed it in northern Atascosa County in recent years.

In a 40-page booklet published in 2010, Marshall outlined his theory, based on historical maps and records, that the battle was fought by today's Old Pleasanton Road. He believes the bones of the rebels dissolved in the sandy soil, leaving a 200-by-300-foot area of heavily calcified ground.

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Historical accounts that the bones were buried by an oak tree jibe with stories from Oralia's father, who is familiar with the land, about an oak once being on the site, said Marshall, who believes the tree has since died.

Marshall has funded the $6,000 marker through donations and the sale of his $20 booklet but hopes to raise $2,000 more to pay the remaining cost. Donations and checks for the booklet may be sent to Friends of the Medina Battleground, 13110 Hunters Spring, San Antonio 78230.

Even if the burial site is there, Hindes said there were varying accounts about whether the bones were interred near the battlefield or a substantial distance away.

Tom Green, a fifth-generation Texan in Pearland, said he's more interested in the battle's historical figures than finding the actual site. He is organizing a full weekend of events Aug. 17-18, including a multicultural memorial service, to commemorate the battle's bicentennial.

“We're trying to celebrate history, not worry that much about the exact location,” said Green, who has a bicentennial observance set for 10 a.m. Aug. 18 by the state marker at Bruce and Old Applewhite roads.